Alien Neighborhood
by PaBurke
Summary: Don't you hate being called in the middle of the night?
1. New Kid on the Block

New Kid on the Block

By PaBurke

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own neither of the universes nor the characters.

Distribution: The Nook

Spoilers: Season seven finale of SG1. Season 3 of Smallville

Rating: PG-13, or slightly higher

"Kal El."

Clark Kent woke from a deep sleep, or was it a dream?

"Kal El, you are needed." That was the recorded voice of his biological father, projected through the Fortress of Solitude. Clark debated; should he listen or roll over and go back to sleep?

"Kal El, if you return to sleep, your world may not exist when you awake."

Clark bolted up in bed. Martha and Jonathon Kent had never issued so effective a threat.

"Come at once," the Fortress paused and then continued chagrinned, "You may have need of your human female."

The Fortress and his father Ihated/I Chloe. Things must be truly dire. Clark sped-dressed and raced to Chloe's apartment. He opened the window that she left unlocked for this very purpose, entered, and started a pot of coffee.

"Chloe."

She moaned.

He shook her, "Chloe, wake up."

She opened her blurry eyes and rubbed them. "Clark, what are you doing in my bedroom?"

"The Fortress woke me up," Clark started. "It said that it's the end of the world if I don't go down there… and bring you along."

Chloe immediately started grousing. "What are we, on some TV show like Buffy? Out to stop our own apocalypse?"

In spite of the circumstances, Clark laughed. The coffee maker stopped dripping so Clark poured rich, fragrant liquid into Chloe's biggest thermos with plenty of creamer and sugar. Then he waved the thermos under Chloe's nose. She grabbed for it but Clark yanked it away.

"I'll give it to you as soon as you get outta bed and get dressed – warmly."

"You're as bad as your old man," Chloe grumbled.

Clark stood there tapping his foot until Chloe threw off her covers. He saw her nightie, blushed and realized that he really should wait elsewhere. He turned his back and grabbed Chloe's cell phone. He called her work and left a message with her supervisor saying that Chloe had a cold and wouldn't be in for a couple of days.

"Alright Farmboy," Chloe teased. "Hand over the caffeine and no one gets hurt."

Clark turned around and looked Chloe over; she had dressed in many, many layers and had on her winter coat, hat and mittens. Clark approved. It wouldn't be good if Chloe ended up catching a real cold after this… adventure. Clark handed over the coffee, but before letting her take a sip, he picked her up at super-speed and ran out of the apartment and out of Kansas. Somewhere between Texas and Panama, Chloe shrieked his name in disgust but Clark didn't bother answering until they had arrived at the Fortress.

He set her gently on the ice and earned a punch to his arm for his troubles. "Was that necessary?" Chloe grumbled.

"Yes," the Fortress answered. "Time is of the essence. A Son of the Ancients is attempting to use the outpost weapon against the alien incursion. I cannot guarantee his success. Anubis is most determined to destroy this planet. Kal El has no transportation with which to flee."

Chloe's fingers itched for a keyboard so that she could do some research. "Do you know this Anubis Big Bad?" she asked.

"He attempted to destroy Krypton once, but we had superior technology and none were willing to betray the whole for his pitiful rewards. Anubis has now turned his attention to this lesser prize. The humans have withstood his plans surprisingly well given their limits."

Chloe and Clark rolled their eyes at the condescending tone.

"I have prepared disguises," the Fortress continued. "And a crystal that will download the Ancients' language into your heads temporarily."

A blast suddenly rocked the Fortress. "The battle is expanding and the humans are losing ground."

Chloe and Clark needed no further prompting. The clothes were laid out. Chloe put hers on, hoping against hope that they'd be warm. Surprisingly, they were. When she turned around to face Clark, she was surprised to see an older stranger in his stead. There was a definite resemblance to Clark in the chin, height and breadth of the body, but he had grey hair at the temples. From the surprised look on the older man's face, Chloe must look different as well. Those strange dark eyes hardened.

"What have you done?" he asked the Fortress.

"I made use of the images available to me. You now resemble my wife and me. "You are now Jor El and Lara."

It was a very egotistical move. Chloe knew that Clark and been asking for a visual of his mother, with the Fortress refusing at every turn. To produce one now could distract Clark from the dangers.

"Pick up the Ancients' crystal. Time is fleeting." Another explosion rocked the Fortress.

The two picked up the Ancients' crystal and were slammed with information. Chloe did get a download of a weird Latin-like language into her head, just as the Fortress as promised. But she was also informed that it was her job to protect Kal El from the humans during and after the fighting. And Kal El was expected to do some serious fighting while flying. Chloe knew that a sane Clark had never flown, as did the Fortress. Included in the download was information about the red kryptonite (housed in a lead-lined jewelry box) that Chloe was to slip to Clark, if she didn't think he could fly without it.

"Manipulative Old Man," Chloe grumbled internally. He/it was making her do the dirty work. Had he/it deliberately taunted Clark with Lara's image now?

"Ready?" Clark asked.

No. Chloe fingered the box in her pocket and decided. "Let's do this."

Clark picked her up again and sped towards the fight without hesitation. He was a natural hero; Chloe would have considered it for a moment or two more. Clark stopped and an aerial battle was being fought overhead with sleek sci-fi spaceships.

"Do you know which side is our side?" Chloe asked.

Clark grinned. "The ones with the 'USAF' painted on the sides?"

"Smart aleck."

"With super sight," Clark countered. "The weapon should be somewhere in the ground here…"

"You mean in the ice?"

This time Clark said, "Smart aleck." He barely paused as he used his ex-ray vision to search.

"Clark?"

"Hmmm?"

"The Fortress gave me some red kryptonite."

Clark stopped and his jaw tightened. "He doesn't think I can get it done without it."

"Can you?"

Clark stared wistfully at the sky. "I wish."

"If it helps any, I believe in you."

Clark smiled. "I found them. Are you ready to be Lara?"

"As much as I'll ever be."

Clark picked her up yet again and by the time she had finished blinking, she was in an ice cavern with four military types people. Clark set her down, nodded to a couple and then was about to leave. His battle was outside.

Chloe grabbed his jacket. "Cl-Kal El."

He looked down at her. She put her arms around him and whispered. "I don't think you need it but it's in my left coat pocket. Be safe."

"You too."

Then he was gone and she was alone to face the music. The four people were staring at her. Or rather, three were, the fourth one was puttering around a futuristic chair.

Chloe sighed and bowed (she didn't know she could bow like that) and spoke in the Ancient language. "_Greetings to the Son of the Ancients_."

The Fourth –the old man- smirked at her and continued with what he was doing. The younger cute guy who was probably the least military translated her words into English. He stumbled a bit with the language but finally asked Chloe. "_You Ancient one-possibly_."

Chloe thought about saying yes, but Clark's powers were not similar to what they knew and he would be showing off out there for the Air Force to see. "_We are refugees who had sought safety. Kal El is assisting your fight while the Son of the Ancients readies the weapon. Please order your ships to assist or ignore him. He will not harm those of the United Lands_."

Cute Guy translated the conversation for the others. The only woman of the group gave warning to the pilots not to aim for the red blur sharing the sky with them. From the reply Chloe overheard, Clark was already doing some serious damage and taking hits to protect the Americans.

Stupid hero complex. It better not get him killed.

Old Man spoke Ancient flawlessly, but he winced as he did so. "_There's a problem. Help? Please?"_

Chloe edged around the three others and knelt beside the old man as he revealed a panel in the back of the chair. Ice crystals had disrupted the flow of power. How did she know that? And would she be able to keep this knowledge for her next physics test? Chloe scraped off the ice with the lead box in her pocket and reconnected the purple crystal to its proper place. She glanced at Old Man and saw that his eyes were closed in pain.

"_It is done_," she whispered.

Old Man smiled and then he opened his eyes. "_Thank you, Kryptonian."_

Chloe helped Old Man to his feet and into his chair. She stood back as the power flared and then a bright stream of …something… raced out of the cavern to attack Anubis. It was only a moment but it seemed like forever. Then the stream of light ended. Chloe stood back as the Old Man and his friends exchanged a few words and then the Old Man positioned himself into the stasis chamber and activated it. Even though some part of her knew what was going to happen, she was still startled to see the ice form around the man.

The three remaining stared at their friend for only a moment before turning in unison to face Chloe. The plain old Earthling in disguise took a step back. Where the heck was Clark? What was taking him so long? He had better not gotten hurt and was putting them into a very big mess.

The cute young guy was talking. "_Name mine Daniel."_ He pointed at the girl, "_Sam_," and the intimidating man, "_Teal'c_."

Chloe decided she might as well answer, "Lara." And since they seemed in a listening mood, she tried to plead Clark's case. "_Please don't come looking for us after. We are refugees. Krypton is gone and we just wish to live in peace._"

"_Next time? What then?_" Daniel argued. "_Go'uald not stay Earth in peace."_

Chloe didn't like the possibilities. She didn't like knowing that this wasn't the first time that an alien invasion had threatened Earth. She didn't want to know that more were very possible. Clark would want to help (stupid hero complex) but Chloe didn't want to give them a Kryptonian sign that might lead them to Smallville. So she compromised, "_Kryptonian. When the Ancient name for our people is used, we'll know. If you misuse it, we will know._"

Daniel bowed. "_Thank you, neighbor-honor."_

A breeze. Chloe turned, knowing that Clark had arrived. He was sweaty and a little crispy in places, but as Jor El, he looked enough like Clark that he was darn good looking. She had lived in the country for too long if the sweaty farm boy look got her engine revving.

"_Good_?" He asked.

Chloe nodded. "_What took you so long?"_

"_I had to help a couple pilots land."_

"_We should go."_

In unison, Clark and Chloe turned toward the military and bowed.

Daniel was still stuttering out his thank-yous as Chloe hopped into Clark's arms and they sped to the Fortress.

"So, did you fly?" Chloe asked as soon as they stopped.

Clark grinned like a little boy. "Extended jumps. Very extended."

"Can you take me?"

"Maybe later."

*


	2. Neighborhood Gossip

Neighborhood Gossip

By PaBurke

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own neither of the universes nor the characters.

Distribution: The Nook

Spoilers: Season seven finale of SG1.

Rating: PG-13, or slightly higher

"So aliens came out of the woodwork to help you?" Hammond asked incredulously.

SG1 had asked their CO to join them in Sam's lab, the only place where they could be sure of no eavesdroppers. "Yes," Sam answered.

"They spoke Ancient like Jack did," Daniel added. "And Jack knew of their species, probably from the Ancient database download. They said that they were refugees, but we have no way of verifying that. We could ask the Tok'ra, but I have a feeling that they might not know. The Tollan or the Nox might have heard of them, but we have no idea of when they'll answer our query."

"Or if," Sam muttered on behalf of the absent colonel.

"We have sent for the Asgard," Teal'c reminded them. "Perhaps they have heard of these _Kryptonians_." The ex-Jaffa used the Ancient descriptor to identify the alien type.

Daniel brightened. "They could. They've been around for a while."

"And there are two of them?" Hammond confirmed.

"They are an older couple," Sam said. "They have experience working with each other."

Teal'c remembered other points. "They appeared to have segregated the duties. The male was the warrior and the female was left to communicate and negotiate with us for his protection. She was uncomfortable to be in the presence of warriors not her mate."

Hammond nodded. "I tried to get a hold of all the pilots. Hopefully they will all keep their mouths shut about a red-blue blur that helped them before the Ancient weapon was unleashed. And I know that I got to the two pilots that talked with the alien."

Daniel frowned. "Talked with? How did they understand Kal El?"

Hammond delighted in knowing a little more than his premiere team. "Kal El was fluent in English, specifically American Mid-West English."

"Really?" Sam frowned. "Why did Lara talk to us only in Ancient if she could understand English and knew that that was our language?"

"It was what she was most comfortable with," Teal'c surmised.

Hammond was much more suspicious. "Or she was trying to throw us off the scent."

Daniel straightened. "We aren't looking for them, are we, sir? We promised that we wouldn't and they've lived here for so long and never harmed anyone. They risked their lives and security to help us out."

"When it looked like we might lose and that their refuge might be harmed," Teal'c conditioned.

"They even gave us a code word."

"Which you won't give me," Hammond grouched.

"It's a last resort. If we misuse it, they promised that they'd know and we'd never hear from them and we'd lose a hidden asset," argued Daniel.

"Daniel," Hammond warned.

"We gave our word," Teal'c interrupted. To him the question of honor ended the discussion. Sam looked a bit reluctant to be directly disobeying her CO, but she stood beside her teammates.

"So be it," Hammond said. "For now, I'll leave it be."

"Thank you, sir."

*


	3. Cup of Sugar Favors

Cup of Sugar Favors

By PaBurke

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own neither of the universes nor the characters.

Distribution: The Nook

Spoilers: Season seven finale of SG1.

Rating: PG-13, or slightly higher

Chloe nagged Clark who nagged the Fortress. Finally one of Chloe's points got through to the computerized representation of Jor El (who was still kind of miffed that Chloe had ignored his advice and had referred to Clark by his 'given' name). The Fortress finally agreed that a Son of the Ancients was bound by the same treaty of centuries ago and so had to keep Clark's secret, and by the same treaty, Clark was bound to help the Ancient enclosed by ice stasis.

All three agreed that no one else had to be informed about the powers of a Kryptonian or the Kryptonian Fortress. So they hatched a plan: Jor El would prepare the Fortress to remove to Ancient database from the Son, Clark would kidnap him and Chloe would hack into every relevant computer and turn them off at the appointed time. Jor El gave her a list of satellites that she had to hack as well. By placing all the work on Chloe's shoulders, Jor El was trying to delay the inevitable. Chloe wondered if something was supposed to happen before she got her act together.

By this time, Clark was firmly on Chloe's side. He too believed that they should do something for the man frozen in ice and surrounded and studied by people from all over the world. So Clark helped as much as he could, often taking on Chloe's chores and covering for her when she was deep in the project. Jimmy wasn't thrilled with all the time that Clark knew what Chloe was doing and he didn't. After one phone conversation that Chloe had only peripherally participated in, Jimmy had broken off with her. Clark, of course, blamed himself and tried to be exceptionally nice and supportive.

Chloe tapped a few buttons on her computer. So far, nothing had changed. No one knew that she had control of selected cameras around the world. She called up Clark. He answered on the first ring.

"Kent residence."

"Hey. I'm ready when you are." Chloe was still waiting for an answer when a gust of wind signaled the Kryptonian's arrival. "Don't want to wait?"

Clark smiled crookedly. "I don't want anyone to trace your hacking to this town."

Chloe nodded. She was good but not perfect. And anyone looking for an alien would know that they hit their target in a town reputed for a meteor shower. "I don't think anyone could find me since all my feed was through the Fortress, but I don't want to tempt fate."

"Bundle up…" Clark's voice trailed off as he realized that Chloe was already in her winter coat, gloves and hat. She even had her laptop case over one shoulder and a full thermos of coffee in hand.

"I know you."

Clark grinned. "Yeah, you do." Clark picked Chloe up and sped toward the Kryptonian ice fort. As she was being set on her feet, Chloe tried to be nonchalant about being carried by Clark again. She really should be getting used to this by now.

"The human is fallible," the Fortress was saying. "There still is a possibility of someone following her trail to you, Kal El."

It was an old argument and Clark refused to be swayed. "Than make sure it doesn't happen. And make sure that the Ancient survives."

Silence, which Chloe had learned to translate as the fortress pouting. Again. Maybe it was a really good thing that Clark had been raised my Jonathon and Martha Kent. Jor El, if the computer was anything to go by, would have raised a cowered brat with a superiority complex. And that was confusing just thinking about it.

"The crystals are to be used again," the Fortress reminded. Neither Clark nor Chloe argued. As much as they wanted to help the Ancient One, they didn't totally trust him and didn't want to expose Smallville to the Air Force special ops type. The crystals were laying side by side.

"We could cross-dress," Chloe teased.

Clark thought about it. "It would make it seem like Lara has the same abilities and Kal El…" The he shook his head. "It shouldn't matter." He grabbed 'Jor El's crystal and was immediately changed into an older man.

Chloe pocketed Lara's crystal and opened her laptop up and started typing. Within seconds, she said, "Ready."

Clark was gone with a gust of wind.

Chloe jiggled her knee and waited.

Then Clark was back carefully carrying a heavy load. He grinned as he set it down. "No problem and there's no Earth electronics hooked up to it."

Chloe smiled back and executed the few keystrokes that would release control. She and Clark followed the directions of the Fortress and then stepped back to let it do its thing. The Fortress worked for over an hour. In that time, Chloe was getting a little chilled and her coffee was long cold. Even Clark wrapping his arms around her didn't help much.

Finally, the Fortress released the thawed, shivering man. Clark caught him before he hit the packed ice.

"Deliver him to the address I gave you."

Clark disappeared with a gust of wind. Chloe was left alone with the Fortress. She paced the length of the ice structure in silence. She preferred it when the Fortress ignored her. Currently the Fortress was busy with some sort of light display. It was mesmerizing and distracting.

What on Earth was taking Clark so long?

Finally, Clark appeared, a grin on his face. "The doctor was there like you said and has his health well in hand. She never saw more of me than a blur."

"Then take your human and leave here."

Clark offered Chloe a sympathetic smile in apology and then picked her up to carried her all the way to Smallville.

Chloe felt the letdown as did Clark; all that work for this?

"How about a coffee," she asked him.

"Sure."

*


	4. Back Door Friends

Back Door Friends

By PaBurke

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. I own neither of the universes nor the characters.

Distribution: The Nook

Spoilers: Season seven finale of SG1.

Rating: PG-13, or slightly higher

Double Drabble to finish the series, concurrent with the chapter 'Cup of Sugar Favors'

Clark silently, quickly opened the door with his hands very full. He hoped the son of the Ancients would appreciate where Chloe had decided to leave him. He carefully laid the older man on the bed in the spare room, deliberately crashed a lamp (without breaking it), heard the footsteps of one Doctor Janet Fraiser and sped out of the house.

All in a day's work. He wasn't even worried about security cameras thanks to the Fortress's image inducer. He did find a perch where he could make sure that only friends came to the Ancient's aid. Soon enough a military vehicle raced into the doctor's driveway. A woman and two men jumped out with guns. Clark could easily hear the cries of joy when the three found the old man safe and only a bit cold. They bundled him up and all five raced back to the base.

Clark was pleased. The job was done and hopefully they would never meet again.

Time to get back to Chloe and the rest of his life.

*

"Do you remember anything, Coronel?" General Hammond asked.

"No, sir," Jack O'Neill lied. "Not a thing." He wasn't the type to snitch on good neighbors.

*

Ifin/I

*


End file.
